CARACAS – The Sunday radio and television show “Hello President” hosted by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez will be off the air until next Oct. 3, state media said Saturday.

The suspension is in line with regulations of the National Electoral Council, or CNE, for the campaigns beginning Wednesday, Aug. 25, for the upcoming legislative elections on Sept. 26, the state news service AVN said.

The regulations for electoral propaganda put limits on the time and space that candidates or their parties can occupy in the media.

The program could have been aired Sunday, Aug. 22, but according to AVN it was decided to use the space to transmit a partial demonstration of the voting system organized by the CNE to check that it is working correctly.

Another reason, according to AVN, is that part of the time of the presidential program, which sometimes lasts for more than seven hours, will be used to broadcast the final round of the 4th Women’s Baseball World Cup, which is being held in Venezuela.